10 Willow Street

Ran Andrade and Gladis Escobar have 1 son and 1 daughter, both 9 years old. Ran works full-time at a local hotel where he is a conference room attendant. He also works part-time as a custodial supervisor. Gladis is a homemaker.

Maria Rico has 1 son age 9. She works as a quality control inspector for a manufacturing company.

A new two-family home will be built on a vacant lot on Willow Street in Morristown. Architect Christon Kellogg designed the house plans for our fourth duplex to be built on this street. The ground floor unit will be accessible and handicapped-adaptable. Both homes will be ENERGY STAR certified for energy efficiency. Green or reusable building materials will be used whenever feasible.

Home prices will be based on low or moderate household income level and number of bedrooms. Prices are not expected to exceed $115,000 for the 2-bedroom unit and $125,000 for the 3-bedroom unit. Affordable 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will be held by Morris Habitat. The homes will have a 30-year deed restriction that allows modest equity upon resale, but mandates that they be sold at an affordable price to other income-eligible families. Prospective homeowner families, who were selected by lottery in late April 2017, will each contribute a minimum of 300 hours of sweat equity.

The estimated cost of the project is approximately $395,000. Schindler is the Home Sponsor for 10 Willow Street, and teams of their employees frequently volunteer to work on the site. To continue their enthusiasm for the project and have a little creative fun, several company engineers designed a scale model of the Willow Street duplex and built it out of Lego bricks with the help of co-workers.

Site work began in spring 2017, with a groundbreaking ceremony in April. The foundation was poured in May, and the first story was framed in June. Roofing was done in August, and siding was completed in September. Side and back fences were built in October, and the ground was graded to make it ready for lawn seeding and sidewalks. The project is planned to be completed by summer 2018.

Volunteers from Home Sponsor Schindler

Andrade and Rico families with Lego model of 10 Willow Street

Come Build with Us!

You can sign up ahead of time, or you can show up at the work site any day you are available. Just check the online Volunteer Calendar to confirm that the site is open, and head out with a signed Release and Waiver form. Any weather-related closures will be posted by 7:00 a.m.